Life and all the shananigins!

Last month I watched the Blog Posts roll out about Secret Post Club. Set up and organised by the fantastic Heather at Notes From Lapland , Secret Post Club is exactly what it says on the tin. Loads of us like minded Mummy Bloggers send gifts to each other every month, the key being that you don’t know who will be sending you a gift.

I received my email on April 1st with the details of my recipient and I was so excited. It’s true that as you get older you do get just as much pleasure form giving a gift as you do receiving one. I bought my pressie, and made a piece for it too and off it went in the post on Friday morning. Now all that was left to do was wait for my parcel to arrive!

Today I got home from work and there was no mail, at all, no bills, no nothing. It was while I was putting on the washing and doing the boring jobs that have to be done that there was a knock on the door. Today the postman was very late, it was 4pm! But I am glad because he was bringing my Secret Post Club parcel!!!

My sender this month was the wonderful Carol at New Mummy. We have been friends on Twitter for a little while and I always enjoy reading her blog and through Secret Post Club I have also discovered she lives only half an hour away from me!!! I have to admit I had been a little apprehensive about what I would be sent. I mean how much can someone know about you in a very short time. Even those who discovered my Blog when I 1st started have only had 2 months to learn about who I am. Well, I needn’t have been worried, just look what I got:

A beautiful purple scarf, I love the colour and I am a scarf person! Two True Blood books, I hadn’t realised I had given too much away about my Vampire obsession! And a book about being a working mum, which considering I have just started week 4 of back to work after a 2 year break, I am sure I will get a lot from it!!

So massive thanks to Carol and I hope everyone else enjoyed their gifts. Oh and if your not part of it then sign up. It’s a great feel good thing to get involved in and will also introduce you to new bloggers!!

I’ve been waiting for today for months. On that cold Thursday back in December I made the same 45 minute drive to the unknown. Oh I knew where I was going (my SatNav was telling me) and I knew why (I had the letter in my bag), but the unknown was what would happen when I got there, and when, if ever, anything would happen after that. My trip today though was more full of excitement than anxiety. It was full of hope for the future not just hope I could get through a few hours without messing up. It was my 1st day at work, not just the interview!

To say the last 3 months have been long is no understatement. I knew it wouldn’t be a quick start after finding out I had been offered the job due to checks and references all having to be done first, but I hadn’t been expecting 3 months waiting. Today my waiting ended. I woke early after a better nights sleep than I thought the nerves would let me get. The girls were very co-operative and there were no arguments or tantrums from either of them. We left the house on time; a first for a long time. I dropped B to school and H willingly went to nursery not even giving me a second glance and off I went.

I arrived around 10 minutes early, which had been my aim – not too early, not too late, but equally not walking in bang on 10am when I was due to start. I was thankful to see another lady getting out of her car and although the building houses many different offices and conference facilities, we said hello and confirmed we were both there for the same company. It was suddenly a nice feeling for the nerves to start to ease. Our morning was spent meeting our colleagues and bosses and talking briefly about the setting up of a completely new area. It was informal and more of a meet and greet than a day at work. Tomorrow it all starts properly when we all attend day 1 of our induction course.

I had been worried after 2 years out of work I would feel lost and out of control, but how wrong was I. From the moment I walked in it felt right. It felt like this is where my life is supposed to have taken me. Don’t get me wrong, I know the novelty will wear off, as with any job, I will reach a stage where I don’t want to get out of bed some mornings because I know I have horrible jobs to do that day. (Normally that’s when I have put off my filing for long enough and it’s reached a point I can no longer ignore!) I also know that due to the nature of my work I will have hard days that due to confidentiality I won’t be able to talk to anyone about outside of work. But today my biggest realisation is that this is right. I am now officially a Working Mum again, because that’s the right choice for me and my girls!

Spring has sprung and new life is appearing every where, I feel like Spring has sprung for me, a new season in my life and my arms are open to embrace it!

Ok, for those of you who know me you will know my main 2 passions in my life are my kids and my current fascination with Vampires! So I couldn’t leave it unsaid that tomorrow the trailer for the next Twilight film “Eclipse” will be released, but we have been given a 10 second sneak peak today and I have to share it!!!

It’s once again that wonderful time of year, where the kids get a week off and us parents get bored silly!!!

Now before I start, don’t get me wrong, I love my kids to bits – I just want to clarify that point before I continue!

On Friday I picked up B from school and we were both excited about the week off ahead. Lets face it, I was excited at the prospect of not having to get up and out the house early, and the slight possibility of a lie in (fat chance with H!) B was excited about no school, being able to stay in bed in the mornings and just playing all week. H on the other hand was just facing normality as she isn’t yet at school and until I start work in a few weeks, is at home all the time anyway!

So far we are on day 3 of the 9 days off. So far B hasn’t stayed asleep past 7am. On a school morning I have to shake her awake at 7.30am! I am fed up of “can I have”, “can I watch TV”, “I’m bored”, “what can I do” and we have so much longer to go!!! And what am I doing to stay sane? Playing my farming game on Facebook! Not constantly, fat chance of that lol! But enough that B just told me I should get off the laptop if I have a headache because it will make it worse!

B has finally got the idea today that the TV is not going on, and when H wakes from her nap we are going to walk to the shop just to get out the house for a bit. Oh hang on, we spent all morning at Let’s Play, oh yes that’s right, H was in a strop as it was too busy for her and all she wanted to do was eat chocolate! Might take a rain check, or rather a snow check on that trip to the shop, yep, here comes the snow again!

I can’t help but think roll on bedtime and then feel like a completely awful mother because I have no idea how to keep a 7 year old entertained. Summer holidays are great, the weather is better and we can go on day trips out, or play in the garden. But with the large-ish age gap and a 7 yr old and 18 month old to keep occupied I am feeling a little out of my depth for the 1st time since having 2 kids! H wants to play with what ever B has, B wants to play with things her sister can’t touch, and both of them want to shout at me about it!

Before I know it B will be back at school and I will be starting work, and life will rarely be like this again. Holidays when I’m not working we will get out and do more because I will have wheels and the money to do it. Mabe thats why I am feeling it this week! But any suggestions on how to keep sane for the rest of the week are greatly appreciated!!!

All about me!

For those of you who didn’t read my old blog, or just want to remind yourself of my background, here goes…….

I’m a 33 year old single mum. I have two daughters, B is 8 and H is 3. I have been single since I was 5 months pregnant with H, and yes they both have the same dad. They see him alternate weekends and holidays unless he is away with work.

When my marriage broke down I moved the length of the country to be back at home near family and unfortunately lost my job due to the credit crunch too. I returned to work in March 2010, as a Family Support Worker. It’s such a rewarding job but hard work too. I’m now in a new relationship with Mr D and have the added dynamics of his children and how they fit into both my life and my girls lives! Being a parent brings some challenges but I wouldn’t change it!

As a single mum it’s a great way to view my opinions and get other points of view. Don’t get me wrong I have some fantastic friends and family on my doorstep and I talk things through with them. Sometimes the view of a perfect stranger is a breeze of fresh air though.

So be warned, I really am getting into this now and I am likely to post some utter drivel as well as some (hopefully) interesting stuff. All I ask is that you comment honestly, I don’t expect my opinions to be agreeable to everyone and at times I will be looking for some opinions that contradict my own.